File Explorer’s navigation pane is designed to show you the items and places that you visit the most so you can get to them easily. The navigation pane is always running down the left side of File Explorer’s window of […]

The Control Panel is a hub of applets that allow you to find all the settings that you need when using the Windows operating system. The Control Panel has been around since Windows 2.0 and with each new release of […]

Windows 10 has many unique settings all related to the power that you can tweak. Windows also comes by default with groups of these settings called Power Plans so you can quickly select one of the Power Plans that best […]

Bluetooth is a standard for wireless connection of computers and other electronic devices that are within close proximity of each other. Modern versions of the Windows operating system come with Bluetooth support, but before you can use it, you’ll also […]

Bluetooth is a relatively new wireless standard for exchanging data over short distances. Bluetooth is commonly used these days to connect wireless headphones to the computer so you can listen to the music stored on the computer or played through […]

Most of the settings that you used to change in earlier versions of Windows are now available from the Settings app in Windows 10. While the Control Panel still exists in Windows 10, most experts believe, in large part thanks […]

The Win+X menu is just another way that Microsoft aims to make your browsers around the Windows 10 operating system more efficient. The Win+X menu—also referred to sometimes as the Quick Links menu—offers a series of shortcuts that help you […]

The DNS cache, aka the DNS resolver cache, found in Windows 10 is a temporary database that is, in most cases, managed and maintained by the Windows operating system. There may be times, however, when you need to flush the […]

Windows allows for you to manually make any file of your choice hidden by setting the hidden attribute for them. It also hides other files by default—these are referred to as hidden files by Windows and they’re usually hidden for […]

All the way back since Windows 95, the Windows operating system has offered some variety of Folder Options. Folder Options—or what is refereed to as File Explorer Options if you’re opening it from the Windows Control Panel—offers you the chance […]

Windows Defender is the default antivirus that ships with Windows 10. You don’t have to do anything to set it up; just starting using Windows 10 and it’s already working in the background automatically and comprehensively protecting your computer from […]

By default the Windows 10 operating system will begin syncing your settings if you’re signed in with a Microsoft account; however, you can also personalize the sync settings individually from the Settings app or turn it on or off completely […]

Windows has long heralded the option for people to log off a computer so someone else can’t come along and pick up where you left off, or make changes to your user account. With the addition of Microsoft accounts, logging […]

By default the Windows 10 operating system will begin syncing your settings if you’re signed in with a Microsoft account; however, you can also personalize the sync settings individually from the Settings app or turn it on or off completely […]

Not to be confused with Superfish (malware), SuperFetch is a service that Microsoft introduced to Windows Vista and is still available in Windows 10 today. It’s a follow on from its predecessor, Prefetcher, which was available in Windows XP. SuperFetch […]

Windows 8 came with a feature called fast boot. In Windows 10 it got renamed to fast startup. Microsoft never publicly stated why they decided to change the name, but it might have something to do with fastboot already being […]

The taskbar is your gateway to using the Windows operating system. From the taskbar is where you’ll find access to the Start menu which offers many ways to branch out and explore the rest of the operating system, including getting […]

File Explorer, previously known as Windows Explorer in earlier editions of Windows, is a file manager and central hub of the operating system. When you download and save files to your computer, they automatically save to drives and folders in […]

Windows 10 allows you to check how long the system has been running for without a restart. This can be handy for when you need to do some detective work and need to know if your computer was still running […]

Windows 10 comes with an Energy Saver mode to help you conserve more battery power on your laptops and other computers that can run on battery power instead of just being plugged into the wall. The Energy Saver settings are […]

Indexing is the process of looking up the files, email content, and other content from your computer and cataloging their information, such as the words and metadata in them. Once the search index has been built, it looks up the […]

If you’re having problems with apps that you’ve installed from the Windows Store, there isn’t a straightforward fix. It may take running through a variety of options before you get the problem solved. But rest assured, solving problems is much […]

As of the Windows Anniversary update, there is now a new tool available from the command line: the storage diagnostic tool. It collects storage and system diagnostic logs and sends them to a folder for your viewing. The idea behind […]

You can use an Allow Wake Timer to bring your computer out of its “Sleep” state on a scheduled time, so you don’t have to be around the computer to wake it up personally. This may be an essential feature […]

A power plan consists of a group of power setting preferences. These preferences consist of both an AC and DC value for each of the power settings. Each power plan is identified through a unique GUID as well as a […]

Sleep mode has been enhanced in Windows 10. Now there isn’t any reason to turn off your computer every time you spend an extended period away from the screen. Putting your computer in Sleep mode puts the computer’s state in […]

Sleep Study tells you how well the system slept and how much activity it experienced during that time. While in the sleep state, the system is still doing some work, albeit at a lower frequency. Because the resulting battery drain […]

Modern computers are made to last much longer than older PCs because of the newer operating system features and settings. Most laptops come with fast startup mode turned on, and those laptops don’t turn off completely when the user chooses […]